
REPORT 

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ON THE 


CHOUTEAU LE AGUE TRACT, 


OR 


SPANISH MINERAL LAND GRANT, 


KNOWN AS U. S. SURVEY NO. 2066 , IN WASHINGTON 

COUNTY , 71/0. ; MADE 


By Prof. BENJ. F. SHUMARD, 

Assistant State Geologist of Missouri, 1864. 


SUPPLEMENTED BY REPORT ON THE SAME TRACT, NOW 

THE PROPERTY OF THE 


ST. LOUIS LEAD MINING COMPANY, 

By N. W. BLISS, 

General Superintendent of said Company, 


At their Works , at Kingston Furnace , Washington County , Mo.. Dec. 1 . 1 S 72 




ST. LOUIS: 

DEMOCRAT LITHOGRAPHING AND PRINTING COMPANY. 

1873. 





















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REPORT 


ON THE 



OR 


SPANISH MINERAL LAND GRANT, 


KNOWN AS U. S. SURVEY NO. 2066, IN WASHINGTON 

COUNTY , MO. ; MADE 


By Prof. BENJ. F. SHUMARD, 

Assistant State Geologist of Missouri, 1864. 


SUPPLEMENTED BY REPORT ON THE SAME TRACT , NOW 

THE PROPERTY OF THE 


ST. LOUIS LEAD MINING COMPANY, 

, I 


By N. W. BLISS, 

General Superintendent of said Company, 



DEMOCRAT 


LITHOGRAPHING AND PRINTING COMPANY. 


1873. 




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REPORT 

OF 

PROF. BENJ. F. SHUMARD. 


St. Louis, May 23, 1864. 

Messrs . King, Greeley a?id others: 

Gentlemen : In accordance with your instructions, I proceeded 
on the nth inst. to Washington County, for the purpose of investi¬ 
gating the mineral and agricultural capabilities of the lands known 
as the Chouteau League Tract and Lamarque lands. 

At Potosi I succeeded in engaging the services of Col. Walker, 
County Surveyor, and Major Cook, an intelligent and experienced 
miner, who was well acquainted with the localities of the mines in 
the district to be examined. 

With the valuable assistance of these gentlemen I was enabled to 
make a thorough examination of the property, in a much shorter 
period than could have been possibly done without such aid. 

CHOUTEAU LEAGUE TRACT. 

This tract is situated in township 39 north and ranges 2 and 3 east, 
and covers an area of about nine square miles, the larger portion 
being in township 39 north, range 3 east. 

The Mi?ieral Fork, a small, rapid and clear stream, courses from 
west to east, nearly through the middle of the southern half of the 
“ Claim,” which is also watered by Old Mines creek, and numerous 
large and never-failing springs of pure water. The northern half 
of the tract also affords a number of good springs, but is by no 
means so well watered as the southern. 

The face of the country is for the most part hilly, with a fair pro¬ 
portion of good upland, having a fair soil for agricultural purposes, 
and well timbered, chiefly with post, black and black-jack oaks. 
Other portions of the tract are extremely rough and broken, and 
useful only as mineral lands or for the timber. 



4 


* 


Along the Mineral Fork, particularly its southern side, and Old 
Mines creek, there are some excellent farms and farm sites, some of 
them perhaps as valuable as are to be found in Washington county. 
Among these I desire to call particular attention to the Ednor 
Farm and others, situated in lots 39, 40, 45 and 46, as being highly 
desirable agricultural lands. The Ednor Farm contains from sixty 
to seventy acres of highly arable land, now under cultivation, 
besides a large body of good unimproved land adjacent. I respect¬ 
fully recommend the purchase of the lots above mentioned, as they 
are the best for agricultural purposes within the tract. 

In the accompanying map I have indicated as accurately as pos¬ 
sible the surface features of the various lots, so that any one may 
determine at a glance which are adapted for cultivation and which 
are unfit for this purpose. Referring you, therefore, to the map for 
this information, I proceed to speak of the mineral character of the 
tract. 

The Geological formation throughout the entire tract is the third 
or Lead-bearing Magnesian Limestone, which is finely exhibited at 
various points along the Mineral Fork and Old Mines creek, form¬ 
ing often perpendicular bluffs more than one hundred feet high. 

Lead .—The productive lead region is indicated on the map by 
the blue lines, and, it will be seen, embraces more than one-third of 
the “ claim.” It must not, however, be supposed that only this 
space is mineral land, since there is probably not a lot within the 
boundaries of the claim that has not yielded more or less lead ore. 
Good mineral indications occur everywhere, and I do not hesitate to 
state, as my belief, that valuable mines will be discovered upon the 
lots situated without the old mining district. 

The Lamarque Diggings are the most extensive on the tract. 
They occupy nearly the whole southern half of lot 25, and extend 
for a short distance into lots 26 and 32. They were opened many 
years ago, and have yielded more or less mineral from the period of 
their discovery to the present time. 

The workings are chiefly on the summit of an elevated ridge, and 
in places the excavations are so numerous that it is almost impos¬ 
sible to pass between them on horseback. 

The excavations, with rare exceptions, have been quite shallow, 
and scarcely ever have been carried into the subjacent rocks. 

The usual depths of the shafts are from five to fifteen feet, and the 
deepest about fifty feet. 


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The lots included within the dotted lines are the best mineral lands, and of these 
lots 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 are remarkably rich in lead ores. 

The lots numbered 39, 40, 45 and 46 together form a very fine agricultural dis¬ 
trict, and by far the most valuable within the claim, being bottom lands. 

The dotted line-is the boundary of the productive lead district. 

k This symbol indicates lead diggings. k Lead furnace. 









































































































































































5 


Many million pounds of lead ore have been raised from these 
shallow excavations, and, notwithstanding their astonishing yield of 
mineral, I do not hesitate to say that no systematic mining has 
ever been done here. 

At one period there were several hundred miners at work in these 
mines, and their workings were invariably confined to the superficial 
red clay and loose rock. As soon as 'the regular strata were reached 
it was their custom to at once abandon the pit and sink a new one. 

Editor's Diggings .—These are also very extensive diggings, and 
scarcely less valuable than the Lamarque. They are situated 
chiefly in lots 18, 19 and 24, and have been worked at intervals for 
many years. They have yielded several millions of pounds of min¬ 
eral. The workings have been chiefly in the red clay and loose 
rocks. A few shafts have been sunk to a depth of from forty to fifty 
feet, but the great majority of them are quite shallow, and do not 
deserve a better title than mere surface scratchings. 

Valle’s Diggings are located in the eastern part of lot 23, and 
the northwest corner of 24. The diggings occupy a narrow strip of 
land along a ridge running northeast and southwest. These are 
very old diggings, and among the first discovered upon the claim. 
It is difficult to estimate the amount of ore that has been raised from 
these mines ; but if we may judge from the number of excavations, 
it must have been quite considerable. 

Scratching Hill Diggings. — These diggings are, perhaps, next 
in importance to the Valle, and are situated in the northwest corner 
of lot 23, and southwest of lot 20. They may be regarded as a 
continuation of Valle’s Diggings, and have yielded large amounts of 
good ore. Some deep shafts have been sunk here, and from one of 
these I am informed that several thousand dollars’ worth of mineral 
was obtained. 

The several diggings above described, namely, the Lamarque, 
Ednor, Valle and Scratching Hill, are the most valuable upon the 
claim, and have yielded vast quantities of mineral. I am informed 
by Mr. Gratiot, who has been long a resident of the lead district of 
Washington county, that forty millions of pounds of lead ore would 
be a low estimate for the amount raised from these mines. 

Besides lead ore, these diggings are capable of affording large 
quantities of Barytes, which is abundant everywhere. 

Whisky Diggings lie in the southwest quarter of lot 33, and 
have yielded large quantities of ore. They occur on the summit of 


6 


a ridge, and extend over a space of about two hundred and fifty 
yards long and twenty-five yards wide, the direction of the line of 
workings being north 60 0 west. 

Shady Diggings occur a short distance south of Whisky Dig¬ 
gings, in the northern part of lot 38. I am informed that more than 
100,000 lbs. of mineral have been raised from these mines. 

Mammoth Diggings lie near the middle of lot 22, and cover a 
space of four or five acres. They have yielded some hundreds of 
thousands of pounds of good ore, and I am informed that the 
largest masses of mineral yielded by the claim have been obtained 
from these diggings. The country adjacent is hilly, but well tim¬ 
bered, and the entire lot affords excellent indications of being good 
mineral land. 

Kincaid's Diggings are located in fractional lots 51 and 52. 
They occupy a space of about 300 yards long by 50 yards wide, and 
if we may judge from the workings, a large amount of mineral has 
been obtained from them. Estimated amount, 100,000 lbs. 

Burisaw's Lode , situated in the northwest corner of lot 45, was 
opened some years since. This seems to be a true vein, bearing 
N. 50° W. The excavations have been made along a line for a dis¬ 
tance of about 150 yards, and are from 4 to 65 feet deep. At the 
time of my visit the lode was covered with loose material, so that 
I could not examine it; but I am informed by Mr. Burisaw, who 
worked it, that the thickness of the sheet of mineral and accompa¬ 
nying Barytes is about four inches. 

Duclos Diggings , west side of lot 35, occupy a space of two or 
three acres. Estimated yield, 60,000 lbs. 

Boyer's Diggings , near middle of same lot, extend over a space 
of about six acres; are said to have yielded from 100,000 to 150,- 
000 lbs. 

Henry's Diggings , on western line of lot 46—estimated yield, 
25,000 lbs. 

Polite's Diggings , on south line of same lot, have yielded about 
10,000 lbs. 

Cook's Diggings , in southwest corner of lot 26, have afforded 
upwards of 100,000 lbs. 


/ 


7 


Besides the Diggings above enumerated, there are a great many 
which have afforded small amounts of mineral, and the most impor¬ 
tant of these are indicated upon the map by triangular symbols. 

BARYTES. 

•ft 

This valuable mineral is of common occurrence at most of the 
diggings throughout the “ claim.” It is not only abundant within 
the known productive lead district, but there is scarcely a lot upon 
the entire tract which does not contain more or less of it. 

As Barytes has now become an article of considerable commer¬ 
cial importance, it is interesting to know that it occurs upon the 
claim in almost inexhaustible quantity. Notwithstanding its abun¬ 
dance and value, this mineral has been mined at only two points 
within the boundaries of the “ Chouteau Tract.” The most exten¬ 
sive is the “ Tiff” or “ Barytes Diggings ,” situated in the southeast 
portion of lot 47. The vein runs nearly north and south, and, where 
now worked, is two and a half feet thick by five feet wide. The 
workings have been carried a distance of nearly three hundred yards, 
with no diminution in the thickness of the vein. The mineral is 
remarkably free from foreign admixture, and at the present time is 
worth five dollars per thousand pounds at Cadet Station on the Iron 
Mountain Railroad. 


LAMARQUE LANDS. 

The Lamarque lands, in which you are interested, lie in town¬ 
ships 38 and 39 north, ranges 2 and 3 east, and are all mineral 
lands. 

E. hf. S. E . qr. Sec. 22, Tp. 38 N., R. 2 E ., presents 
every indication of being good mineral land, well timbered, 
surface for the most part rocky, and not well adapted for agricultu¬ 
ral purposes. About 15,000 pounds of lead ore have been raised 
from shallow diggings upon the tract. Most of the work has been 
done on the northern and southern extremities, and much lead seems 
to have been obtained from the adjoining lands, belonging to other 
parties. 

S. E. N. E. qr. Sec. 22, Tp. 38 W., R. 2 E .—Also good min¬ 
eral land. Several small diggings occur upon the tract, but no 
shafts. There is a good log mineral house near the southern line. 

E. hf. S. E. qr.. Sec. 15, Tp. 38 N., R. 2 E .—Well timbered 
and entered for mineral land; surface indications good, but the land 
has not been fairly tested. 


r 


8 

W. hf. N. E. qr. Sec. 8, Tp. 38 JV., E. 2 E. —This is a very 
valuable piece, and well known as u Lamarque’s Hill,” or “ La- 
marque’s Bluff Diggings.” These mines have been wrought at 

intervals for more than forty years, and have yielded several hun- 

♦ 

dred thousand pounds of lead ore. They are situated on and near 
the summit of a high hill, at from one hundred to one hundred and 
fifty feet above the level of the Mineral Fork. Most of the mineral 
has been obtained from surface diggings, though some deep shafts 
have been sunk here and worked profitably. The deepest is about 
eighty feet, and was sunk by Hauck & Cole. Long and others sunk 
shafts from fifty to sixty feet in depth. 

The piece contains about three acres of good agricultural land, 
the balance being rough, rocky and unfit for cultivation. 

I regard these as valuable mines. If properly worked, they would 
doubtless yield much larger amounts of mineral than have ever been 
obtained from them. 

JV. E. S. E. qr. Sec. 18, Tp. 39 JV., R. 2 E. —From six to 
eight acres of this land is under cultivation, and is fair farming land. 
The remaining portion is hilly, rocky, but tolerably well timbered. 
At the base of the hills is a fine, large spring of clear water. On 
the eastern side of one of the hills are some lead diggings, from 
which, I am informed, some twenty-five thousand pounds of mineral 
were obtained some years ago. 

Tract, qr. of Sec. 23, Tp. 39 N., R. 2 E., 158 a. —Nearly the 
whole of this quarter-section is good mineral land, and lead diggings 
occur upon nearly every portion of it. They were discovered nearly 
thirty-five years ago, by Ricord, and have afforded more than a 
million pounds of mineral, chiefly from surface workings. A large 
part of the mineral was obtained by Lamarque. They have not 
been wrought to any extent for the past twenty years, but are capa¬ 
ble of furnishing much larger quantities of mineral than has ever 
been obtained from them. There is also much Barytes upon this 
land, for which it may also be advantageously worked. 

There is some good agricultural upland upon the tract, and also 
some very rough hills. 

JV. E. S. IV. qr. Sec. 29 and JV. IV. S. E. qr. Sec. 29 ,Tp. 39, JV. 
R. 3 E ., 80 a .—Evidently good mineral land, and fair upland. I 
am told that about 60,000 pounds of mineral have been obtained 
from this piece. Adjoining it on the east are extensive diggings, 
which were discovered last winter by Theophilus Bequette, by 


9 


whom I am informed that over 75,000 pounds of mineral have been 
obtained by him since the 1st of January. 

Bequette's Diggings have been traced within a few feet of your 
land, and I feel confident that the same range of ore may be found 
upon the latter. A great deal of Barytes occurs, both on Bequette’s 
and your land. This could be mined here to considerable profit, as 
the distance to Blackwell’s Station, on the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
is only about nine miles. 

Brcic'l Sec. 1, Tft. 39 iV"., R. 3 E ., 120 a .—Moderately good 
upland, and well timbered, but there is a scarcity of good water. 
About 60,000 pounds of mineral have been obtained from the tract, 
from shafts averaging forty-five feet in depth. No mining has been 
done here for some years, though good indications appear. 


REPORT 

or 

N. W. BLISS, 

J 

GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF ST. LOUIS LEAD 

MINING COMPANY. 


To D. B. Gale, President , S. B. Kellogg, Vice-President , and Carlos S. 
Greeley, Oliver D. Filley, A. F. Siiapleigh and Chas. F. Meyer, 
Directors of the St. Louis Mining Company. 

Gentlemen : Upon the foregoing able Report of Prof. Benj. F. 
Shumard, Assistant State Geologist of Missouri, the Chouteau 
League Tract , lying in Township 39 north, Ranges 2 and 3 east, 
containing upwards of nine square miles, or 6,050 acres, lying in one 
square body, was purchased, on the 25th day of May, A.D. 1865, 
at a sale made under a decree of the Circuit Court for Washington 
County, Mo., in a writ of petition for partition. 

A Company was organized, called The St. Louis Lead Mining 
Company, under the General Incorporation Laws of Missouri, on 
the 5th of June, A. D. 1865. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

The u Claim,” as the real estate of the Company is generally 
called, lies 36 miles south and 24 miles west of the City of St. Louis, 
or 44 miles distant from the city, as the crow flies—about 50 miles 
by the traveled roads—of which distance nearly the whole is now 
traversed by a McAdamized road. 

LANDS SELECTED FOR MINERALS. 

It was selected as Lead land of the best quality, and in the most 
favorable district, while this region belonged to the Spanish Govern¬ 
ment, and the title to it comes through the person to whom 
the original “ Spanish grant” was made, very soon after the first dis¬ 
coveries of lead ore in this very region, by Philip Francis Renault, 





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11 


in 1719. This selection was made at a time when a large oppor¬ 
tunity was open for a choice of mineral lands, before many 44 claims” 
were taken up, and the results, in the very large amounts of mineral 
dug from it in the superficial clays and shallow"strata, abundantly 
prove the wisdom of the selection. ' 

It lies in the midst of one of the most productive lead regions in 
the United States — this county (Washington) • having produced 
annually, for many years past, over 3,000,000 lbs. of lead, or more 
than the whole State produced in 1819, the -period of Henry R. 
Schoolcraft’s visit as agent of the United States Government, just 
one hundred years after the discovery of the mines here. 

In his report made in 1819 to the United States Government, 
Henry R. Schoolcraft says : 44 It is highly probable that the lower 
formations will prove metalliferous, yielding both lead and copper.” 
And further : 44 The only system of mining that can be permanently, 
uniformly and successfully pursued, is by penetrating into the bowels 
of the earth.” 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

This region is a high rolling country, lying some 800 feet above 
St. Louis. The valleys of the Mineral Fork and Big River are from 
200 to 300 feet below the elevated ridges and plains, and vary in 
width from one-quarter to one mile ; the streams, as usual in the 
West, bending first to one side and then the other of the valleys, till 
turned in their course by lofty castellated or mural bluffs, affording 
much fine scenery, and from their tops offering beautiful views, far 
and wide. 

Communication with the city is generally had over the Iron 
Mountain Railroad, from Vineland Station, formerly 44 Tunnel,” 
which lies eight miles directly east of the claim, and forty-seven 
miles from St. Louis. 

De Soto , an important railroad station, and the locality of the rail¬ 
road-car and machine shops of the Iron Mountain road, lies twelve 
miles from the Claim in a northeasterly direction, and Blackwell and 
Cadet Stations nine and ten miles, respectively, from the Claim, in 
a southeasterly direction. 

Old Mines lies six miles, and Potosi , the county seat of Wash¬ 
ington county, twelve miles directly south of the 44 Claim.” 

A system of improvements was begun in 1865, which has been 
steadily continued for some six years—the results of which your 
Superintendent will state as briefly as possible. 


12 


Water Power .—Dams were constructed on the Mineral Fork, and 
a Reaction iron wheel put in, which, under a four-foot head, runs 
the pair of large bellows furnishing the blast for the furnace ; 
the jigger to clean ore and slags; the suction and force pump 
for supplying water to wash ores and slags; a circular saw to 
cut wood for furnace and other purposes; a corn-sheller and a 
corn-mill, besides a turning-lathe and wood-splitting machine. One 
of the most roomy, best arranged and best furnished Lead Fur¬ 
naces in the West was built and commenced to run August 2, 1866. 
It is built with substantial cut-stone chimneys, and two eyes for min¬ 
eral and slag smelting, with every convenience for economic and 
thorough preparation of ores and slags for smelting, with lime-house 
and ample coal-sheds convenient. 

Running by water-power , we save the daily expense of engineer, 
fireman, fuel, wear and tear of engines and boilers, burning out of 
fire-grates, and all the expensive repairs of such machinery. We 
have run night and day for three months without stopping, and 
without any expense for power beyond oil and wear and tear, aside 
from interest on original cost of water-power. 

Phere are three dams — the upper one across the branch of the 
creek running on the north side of an island, the middle one across a 
slough leading from one branch to the other, and the lower dam at 
the mill. These dams have been so strengthened and repaired that 
they are now substantially stone dams, and bid fair to withstand any 
ordinary floods without needing many or extensive repairs. 

The Mill Pond is one mile in length, and in places ten to fifteen 
feet in depth, overhung by bluffs 175 feet in height, and offers many 
attractions to the lover of fine scenery. 

The clearing out of the channel in two places, for a distance of 
four to five rods in each place, would give the benefit of a large 
amount of stored-up water, if found to be needed. 

The following is a list of buildings now on the property: 

One Lead Furnace, 36^ x 80 feet, with wood-house 12x40, con¬ 
taining saw, etc., and corn-crib 11x25 adjoining, and coal-shed 
20x50 convenient. 

One Stable 40x47, with ample hay-loft and two granaries, and 
stalls for twelve mules. 

One Wagon-Shed 20x50. 

One Corn-Crib 14 x 16, with shed attached. 

One School-House 18x30. 


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13 


One Office 161x24. 

One Store-House 18! X43I, with wareroom and tiff-shed attached. 

One Superintendent’s House of nine rooms, with pantry, bath¬ 
room, laundry, wood-shed, ice-house, fruit-room, stable, sheds and 
other out-buildings, smoke-house twelve feet square, and chicken- 
house 12 x 24, the last two built of grout ; and sixty-seven other 
dwellings, of which six are frame and six large double log houses, 
such as would cost four to six hundred dollars each, many of these 
having small farms attached. 

One Wagon Shop. 

One Blacksmith Shop and tools, with two forges. 

One Shoe Shop and Dwelling, with barns, stables and other out¬ 
buildings, and eight corn-cribs built by the company at various 
points, to receive rents in kind. 

There was built upon the Ednor farm some two ?niles of -picket 
fence , and an orchard set out of two hundred apple, one hundred 
peach, one hundred cherry, one hundred trees of other fruits, and 
eight hundred grape-vines, most of which are now well-grown and 
in full bearing. 

The “ clai? 7 i ” covers about one-fourth of the township, and on an 
enumeration taken about one year ago had a population of nearly 
four hundred, or nearly as many as the other three-fourths of the 
township — thus presenting the fact of a property owned by a com¬ 
pany being nearly three times as densely populated as the surround¬ 
ing land owned by individuals. 

Of the 6,050 acres constituting the claim, about 5,000 acres are 
good tillable lands, being a larger proportion of arable lands to the 
total amount lying in a compact form than can be found elsewhere 
in Washington county. 

Of these tillable lands, about five hundred acres are bottom lands 
of the most fertile character, and where not under cultivation heavily 
timbered with valuable woods, such as sugar maple, black and 
white walnut, burr and other varieties of oak, hickory, hackberry, 
elm, sycamore, etc. 

The location of the machine and car shops of the Iron Mountain 
Railroad Company at De Soto, within one day’s haul and return, 
will probably afford a market for this valuable timber. 

Climate . — The topography of this region sufficiently indicates 
its climate. The summers are long and dry, the winters short and 
mild, the drainage by the rapid streams excellent, no swamps 


14 


existing to create miasma, and the whole region being airy and 
healthful. 

Adaptation of Soils. — The bottom soils are very productive, and 
yield large and constant crops of corn, wheat, oats, grass, tobacco, 
hemp, and other staple crops. 

The upland soils are well adapted to the grape and smaller grains, 
and to corn and tobacco when fresh or in rotation, and clover and 
wheat in rotation. 

There are now under fence about one thousand acres, some eight 
hundred being under cultivation and two hundred in pasture, and 
more land constantly being reduced to cultivation. Most of these 
lands have been put under the following system of leasing: 

The company furnishing the lumber, glass and hardware, costing 
from $60 to $100 for each house, and the tenant building and then 
having it, with his land, free from separate rent. The land, twenty 
to eighty or more acres, selected by agreement of company and 
tenant, and the tenant given three to four crops free of rent, accord¬ 
ing to the difficulties of the piece for clearing, for reducing it to 
cultivation and fencing it in a substantial manner; afterwards the 
tenant having the preference as a renter, he doing good work and 
violating no rules, paying one-third in kind of all crops raised 
(unless otherwise agreed) as rent. 

By this system considerable land has already been reduced to cul¬ 
tivation, with little or no money expense to the company, and is now 
yielding valuable revenues, as corn here is always worth two to 
three times as much as in the corn districts of Illinois. The corn 
raised this year (1872) by me for the company, and received as 
rents, will be ample to feed all stock, furnish all meal to be sold at 
the store, and probably leave a surplus to sell elsewhere, presenting 
a remarkable contrast to the early days of the company here, when 
everything in the way of supplies, including corn, hay and bacon, 
were imported from St. Louis. With a cheap saw-mill to make 
flooring, fencing and scantling, by water-power, out of our own 
timber, this system could be easily and cheaply extended, till a large 
scope of land should be yielding rent, and the tenants spending 
their winters and spare time mining for tiff and mineral and making 
new discoveries, while the company, being the purchasers of every¬ 
thing dug on their lands, would much increase the cash trade of 
their store. 

This system of Leasing was initiated chiefly to bring under cul¬ 
tivation the wide expanse of tillable land in the two-thirds of the 


15 


claim lying north of Mineral Fork, where two fields of 1,000 acres 
each could be had, with scarcely a break in them to stop a plow, 
and of the very best quality of upland in this region ; but to this 
date the tenants, being mostly miners, have clung to the vicinity of 
the diggings or springs, or the furnace and store, leaving this large, 
smooth and fertile tract almost wholly untouched. As an evidence 
of the fertility of these uplands, I would state that during the dry 
years of 1871 and 1872 as large an average corn crop per acre was 
raised on a spur ridge of this land, known as the Gibso?t Farm, as 
upon any bottom lands in the vicinity, the ridge being fresh land 
and the bottom having been under cultivation many years. Having 
walked around the claim, on the line, for thirteen miles, painting 
the “blazes” on the trees bright red, the more clearly to mark the 
line, and during the past five years gone over every considerable 
portion of it many times, on foot and on horseback, I can state with 
certainty that five-sixths of the entire tract is good tillable land, 
sufficiently level for cultivation, and several farms have already 
been begun. 

The character a?id quality of the soil on these uplands is indi¬ 
cated by its black oak timber , as well as maple and pawpaw, well 
known to grow only on a good quality of soil; also the sumach and 
hazel, now growing where, within the memory of persons now liv¬ 
ing here, the ancient French inhabitants cut their hay, on what were 
then small prairies covered with wild grasses, but now occupied by 
a full growth of timber, in what may be called “ Oak Openings.” 

Timber .—The entire “ claim ” is richly and heavily timbered, 
awd, to a large extent, with valuable woods for cabinet and car 
work. The “ down and dead timber” and that furnished by clear¬ 
ing is so abundant that, out of the first, all tenants are granted their 
fuel free , and out of the second all charcoal is made for furnace 
purposes. 

Buildi?ig Stone of excellent quality exists on the “ claim ” in 
inexhaustible quantities, and can be picked up on the surface or 
quarried with scarcely any “stripping” in very many convenient 
localities. 

Iron ores of the hematite variety, beautifully crystallized, are 
found on the surface near the southeast corner of the “ claim.’* 
Examinations should be made there to test the presence or absence 
of an ore bank, as the abundance of wood in the vicinity, now with¬ 
out a market, offers a good chance for making charcoal iron. 


16 


Brick clays, ochres, sands, limestones (both for lime and cement), 
and gravel in the bed and on the banks of the Mineral Fork, for 
grout work, are abundant. Heavy spar or tiff (Barytes), native 
paints, pipe-clay, and iron and lead ores are of common occurrence. 
With the abundance and cheapness of fuel and limestone of good 
quality, lime can be burned very cheaply and made of great value 
for building and agricultural purposes. 

Having already built a chicken house 12 by 24, and a smoke¬ 
house 12 by 12, of grout (i. e ., of gravel coated with lime, diluted), 
and learned thoroughly by experiment the modus operandi , I speak 
advisedly when I say they are among the cheapest built and most 
substantial buildings I have ever seen, needing in building no skilled 
labor of costly masons, and needing afterwards little or no repairs. 
Where the materials for such buildings are so abundant and easily 
reached as they are here, few buildings of any other kind should be 
built. Those already built stand now as if they were cut out of one 
solid rock. 

I would recommend a continuance and extension of the system 
of leasing and reducing lands to cultivation, strongly advising 
against parting with the fee title to any portion of the claim, thereby 
retaining full power to maintain good order and to protect your own 
rights as to all minerals dug and all transactions carried on upon the 

property of the company. 

✓ 

S. 

Referring to the report of Prof. Shumard, by its headings, I will 
state briefly, under each, what developments have since taken place, 
and make such suggestions as may occur to me. 

The Mineral Fork , formerly called “Fourche au Renault,” or 
Renault’s Fork, after the discoverer of lead in this region, has been 
proved to furnish a sufficient and valuable water-power for all ordi¬ 
nary manufacturing operations, and could be extended to several 
not now carried on, without additional expense for dams, piers or 
flumes—a very important item, as these have cost many thousands 
of dollars. In case it were desired, several other mill sites could 
be obtained on the tract, at one of which, at least, a greater fall 
could be had by fifty per cent, than at present site of furnace. 

The Ednor Far??i has been enlarged by extending the fences and 
inclosing adjoining fertile and tillable lands, until, instead of con¬ 
taining 60 to 70 acres, it now contains 125 acres under tillage and 
200 acres in pasture, in the best condition. One portion of it, that 
had been much worn, was four years ago sowed with oats and 


17 

seeded down to clover, and yielded next year four tons of clover to 
the acre, at two cuttings. 

The adjoining farm , on Old Mines creek, formerly occupied by 
Mr. Burisaw, and then a dilapidated patch of some 15 acres, by the 
same process has become a farm of 50 acres, in the very best state 
of cultivation, and yielded a rent this year of 300 bushels of corn, 26 
of wheat, 90 dozen of oats and a couple of tons of clover. And so 
of several other places, the details of which would show an equal 
amount of improvement. 

More Point Meadow .—Here the fences of old times had gone to 
decay, and some twenty acres were “turned out” as “old field a 
new fence was put around this and some ten acres of adjacent 
brushy land, the ground plowed and seeded down to timothy, and 
the first crop of hay (at the highest prices the company had pre¬ 
viously been compelled to pay) paid for fencing, plowing, seeding, 
harrowing, cutting and stacking, and the adjoining brushy land has 
been put under cultivation for three crops, and the part first “ put 
in ” will yield rent the coming year. 

The Coleman Farm , of some twenty-five acres, lies in the bottom 
adjoining the east line of claim, and is an enlargement of an “ old 
field” that had grown up in sycamore trees, and yielded a rent this 
year of over 300 bushels of corn. 

Many other places might also be mentioned, and deserve to be ; 
but for brevity I will merely say there has not been a case of want 
of success in farming on the claim, and there is not a place deterio¬ 
rating or going to decay, but, on the contrary, improvement in 
every way on every hand. 

The Geological formation is the Third Magnesian Limestone 
of Swallow, known as the Great Mineral-bearing Limestone of the 
Mississippi Valley, and where fully developed is (according to 
Swallow) of a thickness of 400 to 600 feet; and here we have its 
full development, for the Second Sandstone, which lies next above 
it, caps the ridges between this and Vineland, our railroad station. 

Prof. Shumard well says : “ This formation is finely exhibited at 
various points along Mineral Fork, in bluffs more than one hundred 
feet high.” 

Twin Cliffs , overhanging the mill-pond, on measurement, I 
found to be 175 feet high, from water level to edge of precipice, the 
2 


18 


.ridge rising some 75 feet above this, sloping back from the verge of 
the cliffs, thus giving an exposure of 250 feet of the formation. 

More Point Bluff presents a perpendicular face, of equal heighth, 
and is so highly colored with iron stains as to well deserve the title 
of u Painted Bluffand the same thing occurs again at the bluff 
which terminates the ridge upon which the Lamarque Diggings are 
situated, which on that account we will call u Lamarque Bluff.” 

Along the faces of these three perpendicular cliffs, the edges of 
the different strata forming the bluffs are clearly exhibited for over 
one-fourth of a mile, in each case showing several horizontal lines of 
softer strata, in which occur many small caves or openings, indicat¬ 
ing horizons or levels (in miner’s parlance, “ randoms”) of mineral 
deposits, in which universally occur veins of flint or tiff, frequently 
accompanied by iron and lead ores. Some productive mines of lead 
ore, already “drifted” in 100 to 150 feet from the face of the bluffs, 
as seen at Cliff Cave Mine, between the Twin Cliffs, being exactly 
on these lines of openings, prove that, at least in two cases, these 
horizontal lines of openings indicate truly “ randoms ” of mineral 
deposits. 

But so far these drifts are on the upper “ randoms,” not over thirty 
to sixty feet below the verge of the cliffs ; while other “ randoms , 1 '* 
at greater depths, and near the foot of the cliffs, have never been 
prospected, either by horizontal drifts or vertical shafts. 

The Old Cave , already drifted for over 150 feet, deserves further 
exploration ; and Cliff Cave Mine , now drifted in 100 feet, and run¬ 
ning in the direction of Kincaid Diggings, should be driven further, 
and probably a vertical shaft sunk upon it. 

These lines of openings afford the best possible opportunities for 
putting into practical operation the advice of Prof. J. D. Whitney 
(now State Geologist of California), given so earnestly in his report 
on the Northern or Upper Lead Mines, in regard to proving and 
unwatering ground by adit-levels or horizontal drifts, instead of 
costly vertical shafts, which advice has since been acted upon in the 
Galena region very satisfactorily and successfully — a notable in¬ 
stance of which, by a New York company, near Galena, occurred a 
few weeks since. 

Veins of tiff and flint , in some cases containing lead ore at the 
very surface, appear in hundreds of places on the faces of these 
bluffs, on these horizons, and at points so near the bottom of the 


19 


bluffs that a shaft started a few rods back from the verge of the cliff 
would have to go 200 feet to reach the same level. 

Vertical seams of tiff, dotted in places with lead ore on the sur¬ 
face, have been found by me in these places, cutting these bluffs from 
top to bottom. 

0 *4 

Prof. Shumard says in his report: “I do not hesitate to state as 
my belief, that valuable mines will be discovered upon the lots 
situated without the old mining district.” 

A fulfillment of this prophecy and a very important one, has 
already occurred in the discovery of the mines at More Point, which 
were “ struck ” after the company commenced operations here, and 
have yielded over 150,000 lbs. of mineral. The shafts here have 
been sunk to a depth of sixty feet, and have struck different “ ran¬ 
doms ” of mineral at various depths ; and the miners working on the 
“independent” plan, feeling unable to go deeper, have in several 
instances left mineral in these diggings still “ going down,” giving 
as good indications of deeper “runs” of ore as any diggings upon 
the claim. I have descended the face of More Point Bluff to about 
the depth of the sixty-foot “ random,” and found a line of openings 
with tiff and mineral in some of them coming to the surface at the 
point marked “ Mineral Cave ” on Shumard’s map, while similar 
indications occur on face of bluff at the bottom of the vertical cliff. 

There are two deep shafts now being put down in these diggings 
by independent miners, and to-day (November 27, 1872) one is 
thirty-five and the other fifty-five feet deep, both going down on 
“chimneys” and giving some mineral with tiff, iron ore, flint, and 
calcareous spar from the surface, the deepest one so open as to 
indicate all the heavy ores to be still deeper. 

The Lamarque Diggings have been at times very lively during 
the past five years, and have yielded large amounts of ore, mostly 
obtained by cleaning out old holes and working prospects consid¬ 
ered “too hard” by former diggers. The diggings have also been 
extended over some new ground, and yielded well. 

The main workable random here has been the one at thirty to 
thirty-five feet deep, according to the undulations of the surface';' 
bnt another random has been struck at a depth varying from forty- 
five to fifty feet, commencing in a shaft of forty-six feet in depth. A 
hole was bored by the Diamond Drill, going through, in its course, 
many small openings or “pockets,” and cutting veins of tiff and 


20 


4 


flint till, at a depth of one hundred and twenty-six feet from the sur¬ 
face, an opening was struck too large to be filled by any amount of 
water that could be forced down through the drill tubes, whereby 
the boring had to stop. 

Now, wherever crevices or openings occur in the third magnesian 
limestone, they are always liable to be filled with lead ore, or its 
gangue or vein-stone, which on this property is universally tiff or 
barytes, while at other places it is dry bone or carbonate of zinc, as 
at Valle’s Mines. Abundant proof of this, and of the existence of 
productive lead mines that have been and are still being worked at a 
profit at three times the depth of any shafts yet sunk on this property, 
are furnished by the instances at Valle’s Mines and Potosi. 

I would recommend, in carrying out any system of developing the 
mines of this property, the sinking of a shaft in the Lamarque Dig¬ 
gings, on the^line of the hole bored by the Diamond Drill to the 
126-foot opening. The 46-foot shaft already sunk would need to be 
enlarged and re-cribbed. 

Systematic Mining. — While a great deal of work has been done 
by miners working on the independent plan within the past six 
years, and some mining during the first year done by the company, 
it is still true,’[as Prof. Shumard said, that no systematic mining 
has ever been done here on any part of this property. 

The many million pounds of ore raised from shallow pits, in over 
fortyMifferent diggings on this property, certainly indicate, both to 
the theoretical mineralogist and’to the practical miner, the presence 
of lead ore wherever crevices~and openings occur, and to whatever 
depth they extend in this formation. 

Burisaw's Lode *[which Prof. Shumard speaks of as a “ true vein, 
bearing N. 50° W.,” is, in my judgment, the most important mine 
for a company to work yet discovered on the claim. And this com¬ 
pany, during the first year here, sunk a large, well-cribbed shaft to 
a depth of 90 feet on the vein, which varied but little in thickness 
and character to that depth ; but the company becoming dissatisfied 
with the manner in which the work was conducted, ordered it 
stopped ; and when the writer came here, there was forty feet of 
water in the shaft. While working, the water could easily have 
been kept down by the use of a common whim ; and one of the 
back hands, who did the last work in the bottom, has informed me 
that on the last day of work there were indications of a change in 
the character of the lode. 


21 


I venture to assert that no mine owner in the “Galena region” 
would allow such a vein to remain untested and unworked a longer 
time than necessary to get at it. Starting in a deep ravine, an adit- 
level could be run here on the vein, all the way undercutting all the 
many shafts sunk along the vein, for a distance of say 150 yards, to 
this company’s shaft, unwatering and proving all the ground to that 
point, and in the further sinking of the deep shaft, save the raisin‘g 
of both water and debris higher than the adit-level. The course of 
this lode is plainly traced by the long line of shafts sunk on it for a 
distance of 150 yards, and it has been traced on the other slope of 
the hill, and has also been uncovered where it comes to the surface 
at the bottom of the ravine. 

Editor's Diggings .—Mining here has also been done according to 
the means of the miners, on the independent, or what might be called 
the “ hand to mouth” plan. One shaft, sunk 80 feet, proved the 
“ lead ” to go yet deeper, but the expense of blasting, and labor of 
raising the dirt to such a height, proved too much for the miner. 

At one corner of these diggings a vein of tiff and mineral is 
traceable across a small branch, and was followed into the hill by 
some miners hired by Mr. Castleman, when in charge of this prop¬ 
erty ; but they followed the mineral, not looking to their drainage, 
so easily to be had, and run into the water just at the time Mr. C. 
gave up his charge, on the purchase of the claim by this company, 
and the work was abandoned. A very short cross-cut would drain 
this adit-level perfectly. 

Since writing the foregoing, two miners, on cleaning out a second 
old shaft in the Ednor Diggings, found a drift running seventy-five 
feet, with a fine lead prospect in the end of it, also under each side 
of the drift for nearly the whole length, with two croppings in the 
drift. They have cribbed the shaft, and in “ cleaning up” only a 
small portion of the drift, have taken out over 500 pounds of good 
ore. I have granted them a “discovery lot” in reward of their 
industry and perseverance, and they bid fair to have several years’ 
work ahead of them, at a profit. They have only rediscovered the 
“prospect” of some English miners, who worked there several 
years, and left twenty-nine years ago, “ cutting down ” their shaft 
and concealing their drift. Mineral was then worth only $8 per 
thousand pounds, and they could only afford to work large lodes, 
and those at not too great distances from the shaft; and some mining 
excitement elsewhere springing up, they left. Ore is now worth 
over three times~as much as then. 


22 


Valle's Diggings. — These diggings have been extensively 
worked during the past six years, and much extended over ground 
before untouched, but always to small depths. There is a tradition 
of the largest discovery (except the Mammoth) ever made in this 
vicinity, as having been made in these diggings and lost by a flood 
filling the shaft, and the death of the miner who made it; and many 
days’ work have been spent, and are still being spent, by miners 
hunting for this “ lost prospect.” 

Scratching Hill Diggings .—The name of these diggings will 
certainly convey a wrong impression of their depth, for the shafts 
here are among the deepest on the claim. Several deep shafts have 
been sunk here, and long drifts run, which have yielded well, the 
mineral here following the pipe-clay opening. These diggings and 
the Harty Diggings across the hill certainly deserve further exploita¬ 
tion. 

1'he going over of all the diggings in turn would render my part 
of this report too extended. I will therefore merely say that indica¬ 
tions at Kincaid, Shady, Bequette Hill, Cook’s, Boyer’s, Duclos, the 
diggings at Polite Village, and at other diggings not named, are 
encouraging for further work. During the six years this company 
have operated here they have smelted 3,552,480 pounds, net, of lead 
ore. 

Webster was accustomed to say to those inquiring if the ranks of 
the legal profession were not crowded, that there was plenty of room 
“up above” in the higher walks of the profession. So, in the dig¬ 
gings, while the shallow pits are, “ in many places, so numerous that 
you cannot pass between them on horseback,” and the ground 
“drifted” and “ cut down” in every direction to a certain depth, 
yet still, below, there is plenty of room for exploration, abundance 
of “ sound ground,” where there is no danger of “ running into old 
works.” I am informed that mining on the independent plan has 
almost ceased in the Upper Lead Mines at Galena and Dubuque, 
and the work fallen into the hands of heavy companies, and quite 
successfully pursued. 

Barytes .—This valuable mineral is the gangue or vein-stone of 
lead ore, at every diggings upon the “ claim.” It occurs everywhere 
where mineral is found, and almost everywhere else. Deducting 
the 500 acres of bottom lands from the 6,050 acres belonging to the 
company, and but few other single acres can be found on the claim 
not containing more or less Barytes. This mineral is found in great 


28 


abundance and at all depths, from the surface and grass roots to 
the greatest depths (say ioo feet) to which shafts have yet been 
sunk. It occurs in large and numerous veins on the face of the 
cliffs, near the bottom, at a depth of 200 feet below the crown 
of the hills ; it crops out in the public roads, on the slopes of the 
hills, and is found on almost every acre. It also abounds in the 
vicinity in every direction, and this would be as central a point for 
collecting and manufacturing it as could be selected in this mining 
region. 

It has been an object heretofore with this company to encourage 
miners to dig for lead ore, and mining for tiff has been discouraged? 
and it has been bought only at intervals ; yet 4,359,960 lbs. net have 
been bought by the company — exclusively from the “ claim ” — and 
$10,331.30 paid out therefor, of which 1,674,400 lbs. net have been 
bought within the past seven months, at $2.00 per M. of 1,120 lbs. ; 
and that in face of an expressed preference that miners should dig 
for minerals. 

The diggings known distinctively as Barytes or Tiff Diggings, 
described by Prof. Shumard, were not worked during that time, but 
a new lead was struck in the pasture from which, on a space of not 
over two acres, and at depths ranging from two to twelve feet, full 
1,000,000 lbs. of massive white tiff, of an unusually good quality, 
have been taken within six months ; thus verifying again the predic¬ 
tion of Prof. Shumard, that new mines would be struck, &c. 

In deciding upon the establishment and location of manufacturing 
operations, a regular and abundant supply of u raw material,” at 
reasonable prices, is a matter of first consideration. 

The strip of country bounded east by the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
and west by a line drawn from this point (Kingston Furnace) to 
Potosi, and lying between the places named, has furnished for ship¬ 
ment, at low prices, at least 8,000,000 lbs. of Barytes within the 
past year ; with encouragement, or rather with the withdrawal of 
discouragement, double that amount could have been produced. 
The establishment of a market here for the article would attract a 
large amount from districts too far from the railroad to haul there 
and return in one day. 

A first-class tiff mill is estimated to grind fifteen tons or thirty 
thousand pounds per day, or one and a half tons per hour for ten 
hours. Call it twenty-five thousand pounds per day for three hun¬ 
dred working days in the year, and it would use seven million 
five hundred thousand pounds of barytes, which is very near the 


24 


✓ 


amount actually sent from this region during the past year. To 
contain the product it would take from forty to fifty barrels of six 
hundred pounds each per day, costing about one dollar each. The 
first cost of such a mill, new and first-class in every respect, will 
be about-. 

A putty-stuff mill could be put in very cheaply, but that would be 
included in a first-class mill, and for profitable operations should 
work up the tailings of such a mill and the barytes box as second- 
class. I will enumerate some of the advantages which, in my judg¬ 
ment, a mill located here would possess over one located in the city: 

1. Cheap land, buildings, low taxes and insurance, against orig¬ 
inal and heavy cost of land in the city, more costly buildings neces¬ 
sary, and the many and heavy annual taxes, water and gas rates and 
insurance. 

2. Selecting the best raw material on the ground, paying the 
price of first-class tiff for first-class only, and thereby securing a 
better first-class tiff' and a better second-class also. At a city mill 
all the tailings sold as putty-stuff' cost precisely the same as first- 
class stuff'. 

3. Packages—using an average of forty barrels per day. In the 
city these cost nearly one dollar each ; here, using a cheap stave and 
heading machine, with saw-mill, needed also for other purposes and 
cheaply run by water-power, a small investment would effect a 
saving of over one-half in this matter alone, or twenty dollars per 
day for working days. 

4. Putting up a cheap ware-room at our railroad station would 
save expensive storage, drayage, and insurance on manufactured 
products, in the city ; and shipments could be made as sales were 
effected, by car-loads. 

5. Fuel and hauling — a very important item with a city mill — 
would be a very small item here, fuel being over-abundant and 
going to waste. Steam machinery, lumber and barrels, made here, 
would enable us to utilize the timber as land was beins - reduced to 
cultivation. 

6. A very large proportion of payments for raw material and 
cutting and hauling of fuel, and all the other operations of a mill 
here, would be paid for in goods and provisions at a good profit. 

7. A mill here would concentrate trade from a distance of at 
least ten miles in every direction, revive every kind of business, 
create cash trade, and facilitate the collection of debts already made, 



25 


by assisting miners while prospecting. Second-class barytes for 
putty-stuff has been hauled to the railroad at five dollars per gross 
ton, from a distance of eighteen miles away, this season. 

8 . Cheap rent, fuel and living for operatives. 

The only advantages which a mill in the city would possess over 
one here, that now occurs to me, are : 

1. The possibility, in the future, of forcing us to pay for the raw 
material here the same price the city mill pays at the railroad 
station. 

2. The fact of the city mill being more convenient to foundries 
when repairs are needed. 

And these advantages are, in my judgment, more than overbal¬ 
anced by our advantages in the matter of packages alone. 

In barytes-grinding, an ample and steady market for the manu¬ 
factured product is of equal importance with an abundant and cheap 
supply of the raw material. All the disinterested testimony I have 
been able to gather on this point shows the market to be very large 
and increasing, while the rapid settlement of the West, the vast 
emigration to it, the great growth of manufacturing enterprises in 
Western cities (especially St. Louis) at the present time, the conse¬ 
quent increased demand for paints and putty-stuffs, and the many 
new uses that are constantly being discovered for manufactured 
barytes, w T ould seem to insure the grinding of it, as a steady and 
growing business, for many years to come. 

CONTRASTS. 

Six years ago the “claim” had little improvement beyond the 
Ednor House and farm. The few cabins were without glass and in 
very poor condition ; the fences had been “ drawn in ” as rails were 
needed, till fields had become patches; the public roads, where 
there were any, had been so long unworked as to be practically 
abandoned, and were under the control of supervisors so distant as 
to be indifferent, if not hostile, to making or working roads where 
needed by you, while you paid the chief tax for making and work¬ 
ing them. Your property was also divided up among several school 
districts, and taxed to build houses and maintain schools at too great 
a distance to benefit the people resident on your lands ; the whole 
voting population were obliged to go eight miles away, at great loss 
of time, to register and vote. Your connection with the railroad 
was over a long ten-mile route to Cadet, or over a succession of 


26 


rough, rocky hills and deep clay lanes and roads to Blackwell. 
Now the entire “ claim ” forms one school district. The house, 
18x30, built for a lodging-house during the making of improve¬ 
ments here, has been converted into a school-room and furnished by 
the liberality of Mr. Charles F. Meyer, one of your stockholders. 
A public school has been maintained a fair proportion of the year, 
and such an interest is manifested as to render a private school pos¬ 
sible and well attended, the parents paying tuition. 

A township has been established, called Kingston Township ; a 
post-office, called Kingston Furnace, after Mr. Wyllys King, late of 
St. Louis, and one of the stockholders. The registering and voting, 
and assessment and collection of taxes are all done here ; the roads, 
under the control of a local supervisor, are properly worked — a 
matter of importance to us while hauling over them ten tons per 
day of barytes and lead — and a new and shorter route to the rail¬ 
road, being only seven and a half miles and with only one hill on 
the route, laid out and worked to Vineland, a better and more con¬ 
venient station nearer to St. Louis, being only forty-seven miles from 
the city, while the improvements of the property have been as here¬ 
tofore delineated in this Report, the houses on the claim being now 
generally superior to those owned by individuals in the neighbor¬ 
hood. The fields, as before stated, are all enlarged and extended, 
and new lands brought under tillage, until, instead of importing 
from St. Louis everything fed to stock or consumed or sold to 
miners, we produce upon -the claim an actual surplus for exporta¬ 
tion. These improvements are, in the opinion of your Superin¬ 
tendent, equal in value to an annual dividend of six per cent, for the 
six years of the working here. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The company to-day occupies this position : The owner of the 
property described, improved as stated in this Report, having further 


the following personal property : 

Stock of goods and debts due store.$13,000 

Cash on hand and due from agents. 5,831 

Horses, mules, cattle, wagons, corn, oats and tools.. 7,169 

Total...$26,000 

DEBT. 

Loan from stockholders, and int. to Jan. 1, ’73.$12,000 

All other debts, also to stockholders. 4,500— 1 6,501* 

Leaving a surplus of.—.......$9,500 











27 


in value, of personal property alone, over all liabilities. So that 
the company stands to-day with a property equal in value to the 
amount of its capital stock, with every convenience secured, and no 
further expenditure of any kind needed for any purpose (the profits 
of store and farm and furnace having for the past two years some¬ 
what overpaid all expenses, including general superintendence) 
except the erection of more manufacturing establishments that will 
actively make money by working up raw material to be found 
abundantly in the vicinity. This want, in my judgment, is a tiff 
mill and barrel factory, to supply packages for the ground barytes, 
I would earnestly recommend to the company the putting in of 
this improvement in any event, and the active manufacture of staves 
and heading for barrels ; also of bolts of cherry, maple, walnut, 
honey locust, and other woods, for cutting into veneering and lum¬ 
ber for cabinet and car work, thus utilizing your valuable and abun¬ 
dant timber, while increasing * your resident population on your 
property and getting a much larger proportion of it into rent-payirtg 
condition ; also the proper advertisement of the advantages to colo^ 
nists upon your lands, their free rents and fuel, the high prices for 
everything they can raise to be obtained in this mining region, often 
from two to three times as much as in other farming lands ; ..the 
large amount of employment for themselves and teams constantly 
offering, and, finally, the opportunity of “putting in” every day’s 
time lost by farmers elsewhere for want of the chances in mining 
for mineral or tiff', with chances of large rewards. This would give 
the company what it has always needed and always will need, if it 
operates here a hundred years—a saw-mill to make fencing, flooring, 
scantling, etc., as well as bolts for barrel staves and headings, thus 
contributing essentially to further improvements in houses and 
farms, while saving at least $20 per day in packages alone, if a tiff' 
mill is built and run. 

The buildings for each of these purposes could be very cheaply 
made here, and the additional taxes and insurance would be almost 
nothing. In case it was desirable not to continue the business, the 
money invested could nearly all be regained by a sale of the 
machinery. 

The force necessary to carry on the additional work of a Barytes 
mill here need not be greater than now employed, aside from the 
regular hands in the mill itself, including the miller or head man 
directing the practical operations in the mill, or perhaps both. 

The profits of such a mill would be large, and pay good dividends 
upon the outlay or cost of the improvements. 


28 


The general results of the establishment of such an industry here 
would very largely benefit the company and its property in every 
way, developing it and bringing it into a condition to yield an in¬ 
come, and utilizing the timber while it is being cleared up ; giving 
employment to the many needing it; making a market for the pro¬ 
duce raised ; concentrating business of many kinds here ; all inur¬ 
ing in every way to the benefit of the company, in a very different 
manner and to a much greater degree than is possible in a city. 

Tour large real estate basis , giving you an absolute control of a 
large space of country, possesses advantages that are fully appre¬ 
ciated by English inquirers after mining properties, and will readily 
be estimated at its true value by any one having had experience in 
superintending such properties ; while the increased impetus given 
to mining would undoubtedly bring to light valuable mineral dis¬ 
coveries, and so aid in making the Furnace do its share in making 
your stock a regularly dividend-paying stock, while your large prop¬ 
erty is constantly increasing in value to an annual extent equal to an 
extra dividend. 

All of which is respectfully submitted by your Superintendent, 


December i, 1872. 


BLISS. 


N. W. 


ERRATA . 

Page S. 24th line from top, instead of “ Tract,” read “ Frac’l. N. E.” qr., &c. 
Page 19. 4th line from top, instead of “ these places,” read “ three places.” 
Page 19. 3d line from bottom, should read “ Commencing in a shaft of 46 
feet in depth, a hole was bored,” &c. 

Page 21, 13th line from the bottom, instead of “croppings,” read cross¬ 
ings. 

Page 24, 7th line from top, instead of box, read bought. 

Page iS, for vignette of Twin Cliffs, see Frontispiece. 









